


this love seems real

by raininginthestreets



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ambassador Sokka (Avatar), Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Post-War, ace zuko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28645035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raininginthestreets/pseuds/raininginthestreets
Summary: He's fine. Sokka is fine. This is fine. It's all fine.Mostly.Sometimes.It has to be.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 86
Collections: Zukka 18+ Chaos Server: Jan 2021 Exchange





	this love seems real

**Author's Note:**

  * For [turtleduckzukka (happygiraffe)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/happygiraffe/gifts).



Sokka’s sitting in the grass, head tilted to the sun, listening to Zuko practice his forms. His eyes are closed and he plans to keep it that way, thank you very much. He knows what Zuko looks like. 

He knows he’s gorgeous. 

Sokka’s already so fucking in love with the man. He doesn’t need to be reminded.

So he’ll sit here, soaking up the weak morning light, picking at the grass. He’ll keep Zuko company each morning and have tea afterwards. He’ll politely refuse to spar with him, claiming that he’s sore from sword training the day before (Zuko keeps his shirt on during those sessions).

Zuko will smile, the care-free one that took five years after the war for Sokka to see, and sip his tea.

They’ll talk about Uncle, the United Nations, how Aang and Katara are doing. Sometimes Toph will visit during her travels.

Sometimes the turtleducks join them.

There are times, this early, where Sokka will pause. Zuko will be drinking tea or petting a turtleduck.

Sokka will pause.

And he’ll look.

He’ll wonder _what if-_

In the two seconds it takes to decide, _no_ , he’s gone through the same five thousand scenarios. 

Zuko will look at him, and he’ll pause. He sees Sokka looking, he has to. His eyes will squint (just a little) and he’ll give his head a slight shake. He’ll ask if Sokka’s done, tell him he’ll see him at lunch (or at a meeting, if that comes before).

Zuko will stand and stretch. He’s always the first one to leave, the one with the weight of a nation on his shoulders.

Sokka will either collapse back into the grass or slump onto the table.

He’ll wonder- _how much longer?_

He’ll ask- _is this forever?_

Then Sokka will push it aside, as far back into his mind as he can (to varying levels of success), and continue on with his day. He won’t say anything to Suki when they go on their walk through the palace. He’ll gloss over his romantic life in his letter to his dad. He’ll ignore Toph’s less-than-subtle rocks to his shins.

He’ll refuse to say anything to anyone no matter how concerned they seem to be because Sokka is _fine_. He is, truly. Sometimes, though, he isn’t.

He has Yue to talk to when he isn’t. 

She’s his most trusted confidant. 

It’s Yue who shines over his and Zuko’s walk in the gardens the next night. They’re quiet, each listening to the trees swaying, the creek running, and the badgerfrogs croaking. 

It’s loud but it’s peaceful. Healing, even. The walks in the moonlight usually are.

Tonight is no different.

Neither of them talk until they reach the gazebo. Zuko sighs and gestures for them to sit. He pulls a small piece of paper from his robes and talks.

“My advisors say I should marry soon. They want me to continue the family line but…” Zuko focuses on folding the paper in front of him. Sokka’s not sure what he’s making yet.

“But? Do you not want to?” Sokka keeps his tone casual. It's not too often they talk about serious things anymore. Well, personal things.

“Aang’s been talking about his Republic. How they’ll elect a leader. I just….” Zuko huffs and throws his paper across the gazebo. “My family has already done so much. I don’t want to give it a chance to do more.”

“Well… I think it’s something that could happen. Not right now, there’s too many Ozai supporters still around, but I think that would be a good step in the right direction.” Sokka stops there and lets Zuko soak it in. There must be another option, something so simple...

“You have another idea.”

“You could adopt, right? Is that a thing in the Fire Nation? Would you still need to marry?” 

Zuko strokes his chin, just like Uncle. “Possibly. I-” 

“You?”

“I’m not sure I want to marry.”

Sokka won’t open his mouth and ruin this, he won’t. But he wants to. 

“I’m not sure I’m like you or Aang or Katara or Mai, even. Having a partner seems nice but… I think I would be okay if that never happened.”

Zuko’s royal gardens feel too big, the fire in the lamps too hot, the wind too loud.

“It seems like it's something necessary for you and everyone else around me. I simply… don't understand it. Do you think that’s… wrong?”

There’s calm, relief, when he speaks. “No, Zuko, I don’t think so. It’s the way you feel, right? If something happens, something happens. After everything, I’d say you deserve a little bit of happiness no matter how you find it.” 

There’s a sense of finality in those words, acceptance. Zuko is for himself and for whoever else he chooses, if he chooses. 

“We all care about you, I care about you, and I’ll- we’ll love you no matter what, okay?”

Sokka means it. He means it so much and he’s so honest he isn’t sure how Zuko doesn’t see it.

Zuko accepts this declaration of love with a smile. There’s no fuss, no reasons as to why he doesn’t deserve it. He believes Sokka, knows he’s right. 

_That in and of itself took too long to accomplish._

“You know… while we’re on the subject, I’m not sure I want a wife.” Why is he opening his mouth? “I like women, obviously. And I mean that, well, uh.” 

A puff of air comes out of Zuko’s nose and his face looks like….

“Don’t you fucking dare laugh at me.”

“I would never! Please, continue.”

Sokka glares because he deserves it. “I like men too, is what I mean. Women and men and whatever else. I haven’t talked to Katara or dad about it and I don’t know if I will.”

That takes the amused look off of Zuko’s face. “Why not? They both love you, Sokka. They’ll understand.”

“I know, I know. It’s something that’s mine right now. Something that they don’t know and I don’t know if they need to know. Not until I find someone, anyway. Plus,” Sokka continues as he cracks a smile, “They’ve just stopped asking about a girlfriend. This will just start the questions back up.”

Zuko chuckles. “You’re not wrong. Thank you for telling me. I appreciate it.”

They continue their nighttime walk shortly after, and Sokka feels lighter. Is he still in love with Zuko? Obviously. That can’t vanish in a night. It doesn’t feel as if it's something that is weighing him down anymore. It isn’t bad, a dark secret, or a possibility. Now that he’s accepted it, this love is something that he can use to make himself better. It isn’t a possibility. It won’t be. 

He can move on.

And that’s the best feeling in the world.

* * *

“So, have you told him?”

As it turns out, he can’t move on. He tried, it didn’t work, and then his mouth opened.

He told Suki.

Now, Sokka loves Suki. He loves all the Warriors. They’re almost like a second tribe at this point. He almost regrets ever telling Suki as Mai and Ty Lee look up from their Pai Sho game. 

“No.”

There’s three collective sighs.

“And I don’t plan to! It isn’t something that’s that important. I don’t want to burden him or make our friendship awkward. It’s fine, I promise.”

“Sokka.”

He huffs and stands, pacing in order to redirect the building frustration. It might not be _okay_ but it is fine. 

What happened to feeling light?

“I’ll get over it, live with it, whatever. He isn’t responsible for my feelings. I am. This isn’t something to involve him in.”

Mai doesn’t seem too invested, but that’s usual. Ty Lee is staring at the board. Suki frowns and her eyebrows do that whole sympathetic look she’s so good at. 

“I’m here for you. We all are.”

“I know! And that means a lot to me, seriously, but it’s been a couple of years and I’ve been doing pretty well, so-”

“Years?!”

“I think- yes, years. I told you that! Right?”

“No!” Suki looks horrified, almost.

“He did, actually.”

“See! Mai remembers!” Sokka starts heading to the door because this was _not_ the girls night he signed up for, thank you. “And not like, a lot of years, just like, maybe, two.”

“You told me this last week!”

“Yep, I did, you are correct.” 

Suki is mad and worried. Not a good combination. 

“So, I’m gonna go! To bed! I’m tired, it’s late.” He’s at the door, just need to push it open and… “Goodnight!” Home free!

“Ah! Sokka! You okay?”

Or not. He is _not_ home free.

“Yeah, I’m fine, all good.” Sokka needs to smile, not look panicked. Please, face, _work._

The door starts to open and Sokka quickly slams it shut, pulling the handle to his back.

“Uh, okay?” Zuko, bless him, looks so confused.

Sokka continues to smile, says nothing, and chants _please go away_ in his head.

This, unfortunately, does not make Zuko go away.

“Can I talk to Suki, please? Or have you locked her in there for a reason?”

“Oh! Yeah, you can talk to Suki.” Sokka doesn’t budge.

“...Can you move, please?”

Sokka lets go of the handle, _only_ because Zuko is so fucking polite. His arm aches and his hands refuse to assume any normal position. He forces his legs to move him to the side, gives Zuko one giant smile to hide the possible tears of fear, and bolts.

  
  


_So that just happened. Please, Suki, don’t tell him anything. I swear to Yue…_

Zuko never mentions the incident again. Sokka says nothing. Suki stops forcing him to talk about it.

Two months after that night, six months after their talk about heirs, Zuko adopts. She’s an adorable four-year-old nonbender named Izumi and it's clear how much Zuko loves her. Sokka sees it, understands it, and loves her too. He becomes Uncle Sokka and is the first to offer help raising her (as does Aunt Suki, of course).

It becomes commonplace to hear high pitched laughing followed closely by the frantic steps of a certain Fire Lord. 

“I know that I can’t raise alone,” Zuko admits to Sokka late one night. “I just don’t feel comfortable leaving her in the hands of nursemaids all day. After Ursa left…. I refuse to be my father, Sokka. I won’t be like Ozai.”

The man looks ragged. Absolutely bone tired. “Having someone else watch your child doesn’t mean you’re abandoning her, Zuko. Kids are supposed to be raised with help. She’s a child of the palace and of the Fire Nation. Being around other people is necessary for kids.”

“I don’t know if I can trust them. There was a spy discovered a month ago. What if another one gets in?”

Suki had told him about that. It was a gardener, a nonbender. She knew how to fight quiet well with shears apparently. 

“I can watch her, too, if that helps. Suki and I can vet them, be her personal guard.”

Zuko looks so tempted to take him on his offer and he can’t understand why the man can’t accept his help. Sokka thought they were done with this!

Just when Sokka’s about to say something else, offer another option, Zuko agrees. “Alright. As long as you or one of the Warriors is with her. But you _will_ alert me if anything happens.”

“Always!” Sokka puts his hands up in surrender. “Obviously, you’re her dad first and foremost, Zuko. I get it.”

The man’s shoulders relax and he huffs out a little laugh. “I know. And thank you, truly. I’ll talk to Suki about it tomorrow. If you want to pick Izumi up in the morning after breakfast, that would be appreciated.”

After their usual morning routine, Sokka walks with Zuko back to his chambers, and Zuko hands him a barely-awake Izumi. “A servant will bring her breakfast soon. I have to go to talk to Suki. Her schedule should be on my desk. Thank you, again. You’re an amazing friend.”

Sokka isn’t surprise that this man has a schedule for his fucking _four-year-old_ daughter, no, he really isn’t. He wishes he was, though. “See you for lunch?”

“Actually, yes. In the kitchens?”

“Do you have to ask?” Lunches in the kitchens are the best. Always. 

Zuko leaves, not before kissing Izumi on the head, and wishes them a good morning. A servant comes soon after, just like Zuko promised. Sokka looks over the schedule while Izumi eats and it’s…. It's not as packed as he originally thought. Just a general outline.

He switches off with Suki after lunch so he can do his own job, takes her back before dinner, and hands her off to Suki. It’s a pattern that all four of them (including Izumi) stick to for a week before the nursemaids come in and the other Warriors help watch the toddler. 

It means less time with Izumi. Which also means less time with Zuko. 

It’s the last night until the new shift in his life when Zuko’s hands touch his as he hands him his daughter. There’s half a second where he thinks- _what if I tell him now?_

“Sokka?” And shit, Zuko must have seen something on his face because he sounds concerned.

“Hm?” Is all Sokka can manage. He knows if he tries to talk something dumb will come out.

He watches Zuko go through some sort of internal struggle before his face sets and his shoulders straighten. “Do you… do you have feelings for me?” The confidence flees as soon as he finishes his question and it would almost be funny if he didn’t look so apologetic. “Sorry! I didn’t- I mean- you don’t have to answer- sorry- just, Suki was saying, and I was thinking-”

“Suki? What did Suki say?” Sokka is both pissed and humiliated and he doesn’t enjoy the mix, thank you.

“Nothing about you! I was talking to her the other day and she told me it sounded like- wait. Answer my question first.”

Sokka crosses his arms and resolves to become so good at lying in the next three seconds that he could fool even Toph. “Yeah, I do.” Fuck. Wrong thing to say. “Don’t worry about it, though, I’ve learned to live with it and-” 

And that's a mouth. On his mouth. And there’s a toddler against his chest. And Zuko’s face is against his. Kissing. Him. 

So Sokka kisses him back. He holds Zuko’s unscarred check in one hand and refuses to think. 

Until he does.

“Since when?!” Sokka nearly shouts, his voice very masculine and not at all high pitched.

“A while. A little bit before Izumi, if I’m honest. Is this… alright?”

Sokka looks down at his hand in Zuko’s, the toddler asleep on Zuko’s shoulder, and simply says, “Yeah, more than.”

They’ll have to talk about it. And they will. Figure out all the messy details, figure out how they’ll work with a kid and a nation to run. 

Right now, in this moment, the only thing that matters is what just happened. And what could happen.

Good things, Sokka hopes. Happiness, he wishes. A future that they both want. Together.

**Author's Note:**

> title is from the song "Stay" by Hurts. This was a super fun exchange to be a part of and I can't wait for the next one!


End file.
